Eliot Budget Committee wants say in cuts to town budget

ELIOT, Maine — The Board of Selectmen last week recommended cuts to the freshly passed town budget, but Budget Committee members want their say, too.

Comment

By Ralph Morang

seacoastonline.com

By Ralph Morang

Posted Jul. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Ralph Morang
Posted Jul. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

ELIOT, Maine — The Board of Selectmen last week recommended cuts to the freshly passed town budget, but Budget Committee members want their say, too.

Voters passed a budget at Town Meeting in June, but at the same time rejected a required warrant article that would have allowed the budget to exceed a tax cap established under a state law known as LD 1. Even with the softening of a proposal by Gov. Paul LePage to cut revenue sharing between the state and towns, the town is being forced to cut the budget by $221,500 to meet the tax cap.

Town department heads met a few days before a July 3 selectmen's meeting to suggest cuts with Town Administrator Dan Blanchette. Blanchette said time is of the essence, because the cuts must be finalized by a town vote before tax bills can be calculated. He said a town referendum vote on the cuts will be held Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Budget Committee Chairwoman Rebecca Davis said she asked at a previous selectmen's meeting if the committee could have some input on the cuts. She was told that since there were no new appropriations, committee input was not required.

Nevertheless, the Budget Committee scheduled a meeting for this past Tuesday, as members had alternate suggestions to the cuts to give to selectmen.

The referendum must be finalized by July 12, Davis said.

Blanchette said there is nothing in state law about involving the Budget Committee in cutting budgets.

"There is no precedence, no defining moment saying this is how this was handled before. Selectmen decide," he said. "One of the problems is we have to be cautiously quick, because if we have a referendum, the town clerk needs 45 days to prepare ballots," resulting in the Aug. 27 vote.

There is no town charter to further define the process.

"The role of the Budget Committee is appropriations," said Board of Selectmen Chairman Mike Moynahan. "This is the most unique situation in my seven years on the board. The commitment (for the budget) has to be done by end of August. If it is rejected then, then we go back to last year's budget."

Davis said one thing that was brought up on local Internet discussion board EliotOnline was to eliminate a patrolman's position in the police department, which would save between $70,000 and $75,000. That suggestion is not in the selectmen's cuts.

"It's the job of the Budget Committee to work cooperatively with the citizens and the Board of Selectmen," she said. "The more input from the citizens and selectmen, the better the result. The goal of the Budget Committee is to get along as far as possible."

Budget Committee members will present their budget cut suggestions at a Board of Selectmen meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today, July 11, at the Town Office.